Mass Number Dependence of the Forward Production of Charged Hadrons and Nuclear Fragments in Carbon–Lead and Carbon–Carbon Interaction at a Beam Energy of 19.6 GeV Per Nucleon

The inclusive differential cross sections for the production of $$\pi^{\pm}$$ and $$k^{-}$$ mesons, protons, and antiprotons with momenta between 6 and 50 GeV/c and nuclear fragments of mass number $$1\leq A\leq 10$$ in the momentum range between 20 and 220 GeV/c were measured in carbon–lead collisions at a beam kinetic energy of 19.6 GeV per nucleon ( $$\sqrt{S_{NN}}=6.3$$ GeV). A comparison with the respective cross sections for carbon–carbon interactions is performed, and the dependence on the target mass number ( $$A$$ ) is estimated. The present analysis shows that the observed particles originate predominantly from peripheral interactions.